Bull Moose Party is a heavy blues-rock band comprised of three members: Clemson student, Jackson Bailes, and USC students, Ben Campbell and Ian Wallace. They have been in the Bull Moose music making business for a little over two years, offi cially getting their start as a band in 2014. Campbell is the lead singer, Wallace the drummer, and Bailes the guitarist although sometimes the roles change depending on the night. Because both Campbell and Wallace go to USC, this interview is only of Clemson student, Jackson Bailes. It will give insight into Bailes as a musician plus his role within Bull Moose Party.
WS: So tell me about the band.
JB: Well, we were best friends in high school. Sophomore year, Ben and I were taking lessons at the same place and Ian had been drumming for years. We would always just like mess around and play whenever we wanted to. But we never made anything official until someone asked us to play a show and we decided to just do it and we were like, “this is pretty cool.” We were really just some best friends that decided to make a band.
WS: What inspirations have you drawn from in your music?
JB: The Black Keys were really a huge inspiration. Also Alabama Shakes, BB King. In stuff we’re writing now there’s a little more of a punk side because we all really love Green Day. And oh yeah, Led Zeppelin.
WS: How do you hope to grow as a band?
JB: We would really like to go on a nationwide tour. We’re also hoping to release a full-length album sometime within the next year.
WS: What kind of stuff do you do around Clemson? South Carolina?
JB: In Clemson, we’ve played a couple of frat parties, at a rowing team party, and I think we’re going to play at a sorority function this semester which should be pretty fun and funky. As far as South Carolina, we just kind of play wherever and whenever we can. We mostly play in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville at places like New Brookland Tavern, The Tin Roof, and the First Flush Festival.
WS: What’s the band’s favorite thing to do to unwind after a show?
JB: We really like going to Sonic and just pigging out. It’s not really the rock star life that people imagine, but it’s what we do.
WS: Who is your favorite artist of all time?
JB: Oh sheesh! Well I guess my favorite band of all time is Green Day. Theirs was the first album I ever listened to and bought, so they just kind of have a special place in my heart as a ten year-old adolescent.
WS: If you were stranded on a desert island and had to pick three songs to listen to for the rest of your life, what would they be?
JB: Flashlight by The Front Bottoms definitely. Then, um, When I Come Around by Green Day. And then for the last one I guess something weird like Swag Surf by Lil Wayne. I know all the words and it was really a great song in the prime of his career.
WS: People like Bon Jovi, Lupe Fiasco and Lady Gaga have all had great success under stage names. If you had to pick a stage name, what would it be?
JB: That’s funny, I’ve never thought about that. It would be… (Jackson stares into midair and becomes pensive). It really shouldn’t require this much thought.
WS: Well just think about what your life is and who you are.
JB: I don’t know, Dead Inside? No, not that one. Charlie something because I really like that name. No wait. It’d be Maverick, definitely Maverick. Maverick Black. That’s it without a doubt.
WS: If you had to describe Ben and Ian as a type of weather, what would it for each and why?
JB: Ben would be like a nice overcast day. It wouldn’t be really sunny out but also not really dark. Maybe there’s a slight breeze and it’s upper 60s, lower 70s. Just, you know, a good day. Ian would be a tornado mixed with a lightning storm because he’s just all over the place. He’s got so much energy, which is good for a drummer, and I absolutely love him to death.
WS: Where can people find your music and why should they listen to it?
JB: You can find us anywhere really. Spotify, ITunes, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and YouTube. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, and we have a website. It’s http:// bullmooseparty.wix.com/bmpband. And we also have physical copies of our EP if anyone wanted to buy one.
As for why people should listen to us, we’re different. Like we’re not generic and it’s actual instruments being played. I feel like that’s a lost art in a lot of music people listen to today. Also, on our EP there’s a mix of a lot of genres. There’s straight rock to 8 bar blues to a soft something to just a straight acoustic song. I feel like regardless of what you like, you can find at least one song on there that you can really relate to.